This Week's Message

College students at Augustana spend the majority of their time outside of the classroom. However, the learning does not stop when students leave an academic building. Learning continues, especially within the residence halls. Augustana houses 1,500 students in a variety of housing formats including our traditional halls, apartments, townhouses, and houses. There is intentionality in what is done within Residence Life to promote the learning outcomes of the college.

Researchers such as Astin, Chickering, and Tinto have looked at the environments in residence halls and concluded students who live on campus tend to have higher grade points, are more likely to complete a degree, and often times have a deeper understanding of real world application of course content. The residence halls are real life laboratories where students receive an opportunity to apply what they are learning in their courses.

Growth and development in interpersonal maturity and intrapersonal conviction takes place in our residence halls when students work out roommate conflicts, take on hall leadership positions, and build relationships with folks on the floors and within their buildings. Additionally, Area Coordinators work to provide programming opportunities that socially integrate students to campus, challenge their beliefs, and expand their cognitive abilities.

Online degrees have challenged traditional liberal arts colleges. However, what occurs within a residence hall in terms of communication, collaborative leadership, intercultural competency, creative thinking, and ethical citizenship, cannot be done online, it has to be experienced.

At this week's Friday conversation I will share with you what happens when students are not in class, introduce you to the Masters-level staff that lives in the halls with students, and show you connections Residence Life makes to the academic mission of the college. Residence Life is doing some amazing things and we hope to continue to move the department forward with stronger relationships with our faculty.

The presentation begins at 4:00 PM, but please come earlier to have some appetizers. We will also be offering tours of residence hall rooms in Andreen and Swanson Hall.